Jose Bautista smashes his 40th as Jays edge past Yankees 3 - 2
Many were looking forward to it but then, who wasn’t? For those who don’t know what’s being talked about here, it’s quite simple. If you follow Major League Baseball (MLB), you’d know. So what is it then? It’s Jose Bautista’s 40th home run of the season. Starting on 38, the experienced hitter added two more in the Roger Centre, to thwart the resilient New York Yankees in their opening game of the series. The Toronto Blue Jays would be glad to have they’re star batsman doing the real task of guiding the home team to victory, in front of a crowd of 29,198 fans.
The Blue Jays have been performing moderately in the past few days. Quite recently they lost two consecutive series against the Oakland Athletics and then against the Boston Red Sox. So it was a matter of time before the side would rebound from its losses. Fortunately for the home fans, that was the case as the side got on top of the Eastern Division title holders and World Series Champions, the New York Yankees. On a separate note, the blue birds are renowned for winning more fixtures at home than on the road. So it was always going to be a match between their unblemished home record and the Yanks’ good road record.
Brandon Morrow returned this time for pitching duties. Compared to last time, the ball thrower pitched for 2 innings more and conceded the same number of hits and runs by striking out an additional 10 players. That marked an improvement on the player’s results. To recap, the pitcher threw the ball 104 times in his 6 innings of play. He struck out 12 New Yorkers, where as he conceded 2 walks, 4 hits and 2 runs. However, the game was pulled out for a no decision again, leaving the strong man on 9 wins and 6 losses for the season.
The Yankees, however, were not in such a bad spot; though they were without Alex Rodriguez. Fortunately, the team was doing fine without his presence in the squad as Robinson Cano had taken the role of the close shot hitter. The team went into the game with a clean sweep of the Seattle Mariners. Having won 3 games in a row, the ball club was looking to enhance the streak, on Monday. Unfortunately that never came as the side took a pummel, thanks to the versatility displayed by Jose Bautista.
Manager Joe Girardi brought in the 23-year-old Ivan Nova to the match. The inexperienced pitcher had never started his pitching for the side and was picked from Scranton/Wilkes Barre. The novice ball thrower didn’t win a decision in the night but his 5.1 innings of play saw him strike out 3 in his 73 pitches. He allowed 1 walk, 6 hits and two runs.
The game started with the New York side coming to the scoring board with great determination. The run came in the top 1st as Nick Swisher registered his mark on the game by crossing the last base in distinctive fashion when Robinson Cano doubled to the deep left for an RBI (Runs Batted In) single. The Jays mustered their resolve for a response in the bottom 3rd as Jose Bautista came in to show the MLB critics why he was still a MVP (Most Valuable Player) award candidate. The strong hitter smashed a 453 feet homer towards the centre, getting Yunel Escobar through the last base as well. The Toronto based team went two up and the game saw the Yanks trail by 1 run.
The game would be tied in the top 6th when Cano was involved again. The close shot hitter scored when Jorge Posada doubled to the deep right centre. With both teams on an even 2, the game was deadlocked. With the last inning close by, fans were waiting for a winner run. That came off none other than Bautista’s bat as the showman delivered his signature homer, banging the Yankee relieve pitcher 401 feet towards the left.
The game ended with the Jays on top with a 3-2 score line and this cracks the series wide open. It’s an exciting time to be a neutral fan. These two giants will meet again tonight, and when you have Cano and Bautista in a match, there is bound to be a set of blazing bats highlighting the baseball event.
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